DD/DTS sound is awesome, multitude of input options (analog,digital,s-video), loads of bass, great price

Manual is somewhat confusing (and occasionally wrong!)

No real complaints so far other than some of the confusing aspects of the manual. DD/DTS works just fine - sound is awesome. I watched True Lies for the first time in DD after only having seen it in Pro-Logic. Wow, what a difference! As for hiss, unless I put my ear right up to the rear or center speakers (not a recommended procedure!), I don't hear it. But then again, I don't listen at levels that induce spontaneous ear bleeding! Anyway, thanks to whoever had the fix for the subwoofer problem. The manual doesn't mention this (it DOES discuss subwoofer function when using the 3D-phonic modes but that didn't apply in my case). In my situation, the sub worked fine for DD but was inoperative when playing music using any of the DAP modes (Club, Hall, Pavilion, etc.) Setting the front speakers to SMALL fixed this (seems illogical since my fronts are vintage POLK SDA-2's and are anything but small - but it works). Sub out puts out TONS of bass - I have a Cambridge Soundworks powered sub and had to set it's level to 3 (out of 10) AND attenuate the sub level on the receiver. Even at that, it can still shake the house (and scare the bejeebers out of the cat).
All in all, a lot of toy for the price ($299 at the local Costco). Probably won't suit die-hard audiophiles but for the other 99.9% of us, it's the next best thing to having a movie theatre in your house (and no sticky floors!).

Similar Products Used:

JVC Pro-Logic Receiver (718), Pioneer, Technics

Lots of features for the money. DSP, DTS are nice extras. Plenty of switching capability including a couple for S-video inputs for future expansion. Front panel inputs are a nice touch. Seems well built and knobs operate smoothly. Discreet amps pack plenty of power. Bang for the buck.

Bulky styling not particularly elegant. Remote has a gazillion buttons. Faceplate doesn't really match JVC DVD player. Tone controls unnecessarily complicated. Not as smooth sounding as some higher end stuff.

I change audio gear about once every 10-15 years. My last system consisted of a Luxman receiver (it died last month R.I.P.), Thorens turntable, TEAC cassette deck, and a pair of Mission speakers bought w..a..a..a..y back in the dark ages. I don't even want to discuss the system I had before that!
These days, I use a DVD as a digital source and play my old Luxman bi-wired to a pair of Paradigm Monitor 7 speakers. I wanted an audio/video unit this time around and felt that the JVC is great "bang for the buck". The local Future Shop carried only JVC, Pioneer, Harmon Kardon, and. Kenwood so selection was limited. I didn't get a chance to shop around so my decision was made based on reviews I have read here. Also, the price dropped $100 just before I bought it, so that was a bonus. I figured, for that price, if it doesn't work out for music I can always use it in the family room as the eventual heart of a home theater setup.
So, I brought the unit home, and bi-wired it to my speakers, hooked it up to the DVD and popped in a CD. Having bi-wired it, the first thing I noticed was that, I couldn't get both A and B speakers to work simultaneously. The problem turned out to be the speaker impedance switch on the back panel set to 4-6 ohms. Switched it to the correct setting 8-16 ohms and voila! bi-wiring capability. (I should have read the manual DUH!) I don't know why it shipped from factory in 4-6 ohm mode. There must be a good reason.
I set up the receiver in stereo only mode. The JVC's sound struck me as a being very "punchy" in the mid-range. Vocals were very front and center and had a very "forward" quality as opposed to the Luxman which had a more laid back, relaxed quality to the vocals. The high frequencies are a bit harsh and low frequencies did not reach the same levels that my old Luxman was able to produce with the tone controls set to flat. To reproduce the tonal balance of the Luxman required some fiddling with the tone controls. The tone controls themselves were not intuitive, thus does not really invite constant alteration. Cranking up the bass a bit helped, but cranking up the treble resulted in harsh and grating high frequencies. It is the type of sound that becomes fatiguing after a couple of CD's. In contrast, the old Luxman could be going for a few hours and I would not grow tired of the sound. I've invested some time listening to my favorite CDs and came to the conclusion that the JVC has plenty of power, but it lacks the smooth detail of the Luxman (especially in the high frequencies) and lacked the more musical quality of higher end stuff. But then again, the price of the JVC is less than what I paid for the Luxman some 15 years ago.
On the plus side, I found the amplifier section to be very quiet. The JVC did not display any of the hiss or hum that some reviewers reported here. I've had the chance to crank up the volume an still no hiss. My guess is that JVC must have fixed the problem with the noisy amps. I did like the non-linearity of the volume control. Volume adjustments were very gradual up to about 1/2 the range then volume increase accelerated.
The FM tuner is terrific. The local stations around here are fairly strong, but once the JVC locked on, there was no drift at all. My old Luxman sometimes lost the signal - probably a problem with its antenna. The tuner was very quiet as well.
I haven't had the chance to use the receiver in surround mode yet, but I don't anticipate problems. Overall, I find the JVC to be a great value, plenty of power to drive home theater applications. As for music, I think there are better receivers. I'll probably be saving my pennies and biding my time to get some used high end hi-fi seperates, but for now, the JVC is cranking out the tunes like a champ. Minor issues aside, this is a fine unit. It is probably better suited to home theater application as opposed to critical music listening. Keep in mind that the negative aspects of the JVC's sound are minimal and not glaring. The positives far outweigh the negatives. This receiver is very usable - all this and a new stupid low price to boot. Buy it.

Similar Products Used:

Luxman, Pioneer

Powerful, lowest THD ive seen, Dolby Digital™ Decoding, text compulink

Complicated manual & remote, but it's worth it

So far this is a great HT receiver, even though I only have 2 speakers. Has good power for stereo, 120wpc, good for my Cerwin Vegas. Im happy with the overall performance and flexability. Lots of S-video inputs.

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1970's Kenwood (great receiver)

On-screen menus, many inputs, sound quality for price, equalizer functions, good surround sound adjustability including center speaker tone settings and sound levels for center and rear speakers, cut-off point and level for sub.

no switched AC outlets, no tape monitor loop for external equalizer (Bose 901 fans take note)

Great value. I don't understand the one-star reviews at all, except perhaps defective examples of the product as others have suggested. For CD music in stereo (for which the subwoofer still functions if you want), the THD rating is only 0.02%--a very low figure--and the sound quality in this mode is excellent to my ear (20-year-old ESS AMT 1B speakers that I wouldn't trade for anything I've heard to date, but that's another story). Anything above 65 percent on the volume control is uncomfortable to me in a very large (600 sq. ft.) room. Due in part to the compu-link feature, I'm able to control a DVD player, an S-VHS VCR, a TV, a DBS receiver, and a CD player with the multi-brand remote included. You don't get all the functionality of the dedicated remotes (e.g., DBS menu functions) but you can do all the basics for all the components. Put me in the no-hiss, no-hum column--I haven't had these problems at all. I recommend this product unless you just have to spend more money. One complaint: don't bother to email Customer Support on the JVC web site, because they don't answer you.

Similar Products Used:

Upgrade from Kenwood Pro Logic, also have Pioneer stereo and Pro Logic receivers

Good price, many i/o's

reliability

For the price, its a great deal, had quite a few problems and had to exchange for a new one. This time I cant get rid of interference in RR speaker.

Similar Products Used:

Kenwood, Pioneer

Control of subwoofer output, balance, surround output with only two buttons for each function on the remote.

That it still costs more than the RX8000.

I don't like the idea that I could have had the RX8000 for less money, and that NO WHERE on JVC's site or anywhere else does it even HINT that the RX8000 replaces the RX888. I don't know if my RX888 is rated "true high-current" like the RX8000 or not, but the price made me think the RX888 was the better unit - NOT! The RX8000 has an extra digital input AND a digital output that the RX888 doesn't have, and I only wish I noticed this and knew this information before I went with the RX888. There's nothing wrong with the sound, and I'm driving Infinity RS10's in the front (built-in 175watt subwoofers in EACH speaker) and Bose 301s in the rear. I listened to the THX sound from a VHS tape (analog!) and it was the loudest I've ever heard it. I nearly paniced and had the urge to rush-and-turn-down-the-volume before something blew up before the THX logo sound was done playing, but it was incredibly awesome sounding! I had to listen to it over and over again! Other than the fact that I should have gotten the RX8000, the RX888 is very satisfactory for home theater applications.

Similar Products Used:

My roomates top Yamaha receiver

DTS 5.1, number of inputs,

remote will not operate my DVD player

I purchased this product as my first step in building a home theatre. I wanted a reciever that had DTS and DD as well as having a lot of inputs. The COMPULINK is pretty handy and since buying this reciever i have bought a JVC 3 Disc DVD Changer, and a JVC 5 disc CD Changer. All good quality products that work nicely together through JVC's system. The reciever puts out a good amount of sound and the quality is quite good. Of course it isn't perfect and hisses a litte at extreme volumes, but i don't listen to things that loudly and it isn't a problem. The amount of inputs is very nice because I had a variety of things hooked up to the system. I had both my computer and my roommate's computer hooked up, the DVD player, the CD player, a TV, a playstation, and a minidisc player. The optical digital connection between the DVD player and reciever produces a very good sound. Overall i say that this product is very good quality for the money. Not 4 stars just because of course there are recievers that are much better than it, only a lot more money

Similar Products Used:

Aiwa reciever, which i kept for like 3 days before realizing what a piece of crap it was

Loads of features, Price

Hiss when DSP is on.

I just got the 8000vbk - the latest version of this receiver. I have read all the reviews and thought the discrepancy over the hiss was due to a bad batch of units.
Unfortunately - the problem is with the subjective opinions of the reviewers. The unit most definitely has a design problem. The hiss occurs when the DSP ( Digital Signal Processor ) is on. If you turn off DSP the hiss is gone. A good amplifier should not have the amount of hiss this receiver puts out - even at the highest volume level. The hiss does not come and go it is alwayus there - just harder to hear and high volume levels. And the AMP isn't causing it - I think its the DSP. If you compare it to any other receiver in it's class - you may have other problems - but the hiss is not there. Has anyone gotten a response from JVC on this before I return the receiver.

Similar Products Used:

Kenwood

Style, cost/benefit ratio, easy to learn/install, feature

noise from rear speakers

I decided to upgrade my system to Dolby Digital. I was in doubt of buying either Pionner, Sony, Thechnics, Kenwood, and JVC.
They were all about the same cost (ranging from $250 to $350).
JVC has LOTS of svideo inputs, 2 optical input and one coaxial input. It also does DTS and it is not the most expensive of them.

At first I used it with only 2 Pionner speakers (got them for $180). The sound is awesome.

I was reading the reviews and people were talking about the noise on the rear spekers. It does make noise at high sound level. The noise i found was:

80/90 -> The noise starts. You can hear it if you either only have the rear speakers on, or make a lot of effort to her it

85/90 -> The noise is evident, and starts to bug me

When I use Dolby I have to increase the sound level for about 20% for having a good listenning of the movie. Since I usually hear music at 65-70/90 Id have to listen to at least 78-84/90 That means that to really enjoy the movie at the desirable sound level, I might listen to the fuzz noise from the rear speakers.

The other bad thing about this receiver is that it does not have Digital out.

If they fix the rear noise, add equalizer out, and add digital out, this would perfect.

Thats my Ratings:
Value: 5/5
Sound: 3/5
Power: 4/5
Manual/Easy to use/remote control: 4/5
Extra Features: 5/5
Overall Rating: 4.20/5

Similar Products Used:

Aiwa AV-1000, Magnavox Dolby Prologic

Powerfull, Very Clean, DTS, Discrete Output transistors on all channels.

None

A great and very satisfying receiver. Excellent Value.